Neville 2016
Harry Wolfson Slepian

This picture popped out at me right when I saw it the first time. The boy in the picture has such a rigid figure as well as a taught face that it makes you wonder why he feels as stiff as he is showing. The background is white and simple which makes the boy the center of attention with no other distractions. The shot was done in film so the picture is a bit more grainy that in would be with digital, but that makes the taught and tense feeling portrayed by the boy seem less staged and rather genuine.

The composition of this picture was one thing that drew me in. It does not follow the rule of thirds, yet it is still extremely interesting. The boy is in the center of the picture and the lines of the house siding all lead into the figure. His rigid stance is perfectly perpendicular to the lines of the siding as well as perpendicular to the line made by the shadow of the house. He is standing right on the shadow line and it splits his face in half with one side bright and one side dark. The effect of him squinting from the sunlight makes him look more distraught than if the shadow weren't there.

All pf the colors in the picture are very neutral which in some cases could make for an uninteresting picture but in this case the neutral colors are meant to keep your attention on what is important: the boy's expression. The boy's shoes have a little bit of color in them, but the faded look from the film desaturates them a bit.

I feel the meaning of this picture is about tension and anxious thoughts. His far out look as well as tense positioning shows he is in deep thought, but not of something relaxing or calm. His figure is very rigid and unrelaxed showing stress or uneasiness.